The arts of illusion and magic have been practiced through the centuries, and one of the most popular and astonishing feats has been the levitation of a person or physical object with no visible means of support or control by an outside force other than the audiences imagined power of the illusionist.
In reality the illusion of levitation has been accomplished in the past by various mechanisms such as those disclosed by H. Thurston et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,613,254, H. Goldin U.S. Pat. No. 838,979 and the examples found in "Encyclopedia of Suspensions and Levitations": edited by Bruce Armstrong (l976) Micky Hades International Calgary, Alberta, Canada (15BN-09-19230-49-0) particularly pages 75, 78, 93, 95, 115, and 214.
The prior art is characterized by the fact that they are cumbersome to work with, are either permanently installed or required temporary structural modification of a theater or similar environment, do not lend themselves to a totally believable illusory effect, and can not be readily installed, operated and transported to and from a performance site, by the illusionist alone, due to their enormous size and weight.
There has been a long felt need among practising illusionists and magicians for a lightweight, portable, self-contained levitation apparatus which is simple to operate, quiet, does not require a permanent stage and which lends itself to an enhanced visual illusion when used in conjunction with a rigid hoop.